SOUND CHECK.

BEYONCE: ``B'Day'' (Sony) - Two and one half stars

You may wonder why Beyonce titled her new album after a plumbing fixture found in European bathrooms. But, knowing the careful calculations that go into her every move, she undoubtedly has a very savvy reason. And that remains the only puzzler about a predictably polished piece of product designed to perk up the bank balances of all involved.

A standard singer with little detectable range, personality or sense of humor, Beyonce, like many of her competitors, must rely on a chorus line of expensive producers, writers and knob twiddlers to fashion her wares. Here, the 10 songs waver between midtempo club fodder and overproduced love ballads tinged with me-first bling-guistics. A hair stylist deservingly gets top billing.

The best of the unfortunately named ``B'Day'' are a couple of r&b thumpers -- ``Ring the Alarm'' and ``Deja Vu,'' in which Jay-Z adds cheeky counterpoint to girlfriend's processed coo. It's more about the effective programming of beats than musical execution.

For all her faults, one could never accuse Beyonce of shying away from an important social issue. With ``Freakum Dress,'' she advises ladies that the best way to keep a man's attention is to wear as little as possible. Hey, as someone once said, it pays the bills, bills, bills.

-- Fred Shuster

VARIOUS: ``Grey's Anatomy Original Soundtrack, Volume 2'' (Hollywood) - Thee stars

You've got to hand it to the folks at ABC's ``Grey's Anatomy'' -- they know good music when they hear it. It's hard not to like Ursula 1000's groovy sample-delic ``Kaboom!,'' Metric's straight-ahead rocker ``Monster Hospital,'' or ``Multiply,'' by Jamie Lidell, whose raspy voice recalls Terence Trent D'Arby. Gomez offers up a subtle banjo-picker with ``How We Operate,'' and the Chalets conjure the B-52's with ``Sexy Mistake.''

Just like the first volume, this companion disc to season two of the popular show is interspersed with some of the catchiest music you're likely to hear. Period.

-- Sandra Barrera

CHRIS WALDEN: ``No Bounds'' (Origin) - Three stars

Big-band leader Walden's '05 debut, ``Home of My Heart,'' got a lot of love -- strong sales, two Grammy nominations -- and justifiably so, since he took the genre into some interesting new directions and even delivered a delightfully brassy version of the ``Star Wars'' theme. This follow-up is even better. It opens with Walden's celebrated version of David Foster's theme for the 2006 Winter Olympics and moves on to include a couple of nice vocal turns from Tierney Sutton and the expected stellar playing from a top-notch lineup of Los Angeles-based musicians. The album should only expand Walden's audience.

-- Glenn Whipp

THE DUHKS: ``Migrations'' (Sugar Hill) - Three and one half stars

Yep, the band's name is pronounced like the bird's. But on their third album, this Winnipeg quintet makes more like a flock of musically migratory Canada geese. Though produced by folkie Tim O'Brien and grounded in the Duhks' Celtic/country fundamentals, ``Migrations'' soars over Latin, Creole, soul, blues and gospel territory as well. Lead chanteuses Tania Elizabeth and Jessee Havey lend jazz, punk and some fine torch flavorings to everything from historical protest songs (Dan Frechette's ``Who Will Take My Place'') to Havey's own anthemic pop tear-jerker ``Out of the Rain.'' Keep flying high, kids.

-- Bob Strauss

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(1) no caption (Beyonce)

(2 -- 5) no caption (CD covers)